Shillong, Sept 04: Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month) is celebrated in the month of September every year to create mobilization at State, District, Block and Village level towards leveraging nutrition to combat malnutrition envisioned to be a Jan Andolan through ‘Jan Bhagudaan’ i.e., Peoples’ Movement.
The focus of this third anniversary celebration “Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2020” will have two major activities besides others to be carried out at grass root level namely Identification and Tracking of Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and plantation drive for promotion of Kitchen Gardens.
Early identification of Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) children is important in initiating treatment and minimizing the risk of complications. Further, breastfeeding together with complimentary feeding helps prevention of malnutrition and is an important strategy for improving child survival. Early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding should be intensively promoted for children upto the age of 6 months during the Poshan Maah.
It has also been decided to focus on plantation of Kitchen/Nutri Gardens where families and communities will be encouraged to plant nutritious vegetables and fruit bearing plants and trees. Potted plants and Terrace gardens can be encouraged in the absence of land. The kitchen garden will be encouraged in Anganwadi Centres, school and government building as well as in household.
A series of webinars will also be conducted by Ministry of Women and Child Development and line ministries during the month long celebration on relevant topics of nutrition.
The celebration in Meghalaya will be coordinated by District Programme Officers and Child Development Project Officers under ICDS at the District and Block levels in convergence with different line departments. All laid down protocols related to COVID-19 will be strictly adhered to while celebrating the Poshan Maah.
